Bill OKs crime victims addressing Pa. parole board

Sunday, April 14, 2013

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — State lawmakers have approved a measure that would allow crime victims to address the parole board directly when inmates are being considered for parole.

The state Senate last week unanimously approved a measure that allow victims and their families to speak to the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole at such hearings, according to The (Wilkes-Barre) Citizens’ Voice.

Currently, an inmate up for parole is allowed to meet with parole board members, but victims and their families are limited to written or recorded comments.

Susan Hooper told the paper that said whenever the woman who pleaded guilty to killing her brother applies for parole, she resorts to a mass letter-writing campaign to keep her behind bars.

“Reading something is totally different than talking face-to-face,” said Hooper, whose brother Robert died in 1991 after drinking iced tea laced with rat poison. His wife, Joann Curley, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in 1997 and was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. Joann Curley, now 49, has applied for parole five times but has been denied each time.

“Bobby is not here to tell the story of what happened to him. I want to tell his story face-to-face to the parole board members,” Hooper said. “To hear right from victims and see how it changed their lives, they’ll understand better.”

“She is a very determined woman who pushed for this. This legislation certainly justifies her efforts and honors the memory of her brother,” Baker told the paper shortly after Tuesday’s 50-0 vote on the Senate floor.

The state House approved the proposal last month.

Baker said the measure, which still needs the governor’s signature, corrects a flaw in the system that denied victims and their families a chance to make their case directly to the people who will decide the fate of an inmate.

“The decision to grant parole is a serious determination, and should be made with the fullest understanding of the implications,” she said.